South Routt sees sales traffic in 1st quarter

Steamboat Springs  The neighborhoods around the base of Steamboat Ski Area accounted for the bulk of real estate transactions and dollar volume in the first quarter of 2012, as they typically do. But the South Routt market — excluding Stagecoach, Oak Creek and Phippsburg — showed some surprising strength.

Stan Urban, of Land Title Guarantee Co., reported that through March, the mountain area accounted for 62 sales with a combined valuation of

$31.7 million, a little less than one-third of the total dollar volume of $103.2 million in the first quarter. The three-month figure compares to $95.1 million in the first quarter of 2011, and the $38.09 million in sales in March 2012 was up 19 percent compared with March 2011.

South Routt, with $27.09 million in first quarter dollar volume on 11 sales, was the next biggest neighborhood market in Routt County. The average residential price in South Routt during the first three months of the year was $737,400.

The numbers in rural South Routt were influenced significantly by the $4.37 million sale by Song Mountain LLC of a ranch east of Woodchuck Mountain. That ranch did not include the vacant land parcel where the Florida development entity Song Mountain unsuccessfully sought in 2009 to obtain Routt County permits to allow for the creation of a new subdivision in Stagecoach.

Another big South Routt deal, according to records at the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, involved a luxury home on acreage along Routt County Road 37 that sold for $2.13 million by Twentymile Coal Co. to a family limited liability company.

Stagecoach, in contrast, had ample transaction volume with 17 sales. But the average transaction price there was $84,612 and the median price was $55,900.

The Hayden area saw 19 transactions in the first three months of the year, according to Land Title. The average transaction price there was $257,200, but the range was large — a fact reflected in the median transaction price of $85,000.

North Routt was relatively busy with 11 transactions for a combined $4.6 million. One of the notable deals was the sale of the longstanding Dutch Creek Guest Ranch buildings along with 98 acres for $1.45 million.